Smith Electric Vehicles attracts Chinese investment

Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation, a specialist in all-electric commercial vehicles, has signed a letter of intent with Wanxiang Group, an automotive parts manufacturing and supplier.
March 13, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
3822 Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation, a specialist in all-electric commercial vehicles, has signed a letter of intent with 3823 Wanxiang Group, an automotive parts manufacturing and supplier. The principal terms include a US$25 million equity investment in Smith by Wanxiang and up to a $75 million investment in a joint venture between Smith and Wanxiang to develop, manufacture and commercialise all-electric school buses and commercial vehicles for multiple industries in China. Under the Smith brand, these vehicles will combine Wanxiang’s EV component technologies with Smith’s proprietary platform vehicle designs, including its Smith Drive and Smith Power systems. Both the investment and the joint venture are subject to the execution of definitive agreements and receipt of regulatory and other third party approvals.

“Wanxiang’s high quality precision manufacturing capabilities and purchasing relationships bring significant value to our business in our current stage of development,” commented Bryan Hansel, chief executive officer and chairman of Smith. “Wanxiang is one of China’s most respected companies and we look forward to a long, mutually beneficial relationship that advances the global commercial electric vehicle industry.”

“Smith’s market leadership in the U.S. and Europe bring valuable experience and technology to address the significant opportunity for all-electric commercial vehicles in China," said Pingyi Li, the executive director of Wanxiang EV Co. Ltd. "Working together, we see tremendous opportunity to serve this growing market and to leverage volume and cost synergies back into Smith’s global business. We are pleased to have them as our partner."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • GE to convert half its global vehicle fleet to electric
    March 2, 2012
    GE has announced it will purchase 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015 for its own fleet and through its Capital Fleet Services business - the largest-ever single electric vehicle commitment.
    Read More
  • Daimler and Bosch announce JV
    April 19, 2012
    Daimler and Robert Bosch have signed agreements on the establishment of a 50:50 joint venture (JV) for electric motors. Subject to the approval of the antitrust authoritie, the new company, which is to be set up under the name EM-motive, will develop, produce, and market innovative electric motors for electric vehicles.
    Read More
  • Kapsch’s scalable tolling back office accepts mixed feeds
    September 15, 2014
    Arno Klamminger and Wolfgang Fleischer from Kapsch’s ETC Business Unit outline a new back office solution which addresses the ongoing changes in the road user charging sector. The rapidly increasing scale of some Road User Charging (RUC) schemes, both current and proposed, presents systems developers and manufacturers with significant opportunities in terms of product sales. However, it also presents them with significant challenges - and size is but one part – as at regional, national and international lev
    Read More
  • The afterlife of spent electric vehicle batteries
    April 20, 2012
    Earlier this year, General Motors signed a definitive agreement with ABB Group to identify joint research and development projects that would reuse Chevrolet Volt battery systems, which will have up to 70 per cent of life remaining after their automotive use is exhausted. Recent research conducted by GM predicts that secondary use of 33 Volt batteries will have enough storage capacity to power up to 50 homes for about four hours during a power cut.
    Read More

Highlighted Content